IPL 2018: Dinesh Karthik could lead KKR, says CEO Venky Mysore

March 1, 2018

Image Credit - BCCI

Ever since Gautam Gambhir’s exit from the franchise, much of pre-IPL talk surrounding the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has revolved around who should be the man to replace Gambhir in the KKR hotseat – who their next captain will be? While several possible names have emerged and even been discussed, there is no general consensus as to who will finally get the job in IPL 2018.

Dinesh Karthik leads the list of KKR captaincy probables for IPL 2018

In a special video series being run by KKR’s Youtube channel (Kolkata Knight Riders – Official), Venky Mysore, the franchise’s CEO, shared his insights on the captaincy conundrum surrounding the team and revealed that veteran Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik is a leading candidate to take up the team’s reigns in IPL 2018.

Mysore said that Dinesh Karthik is a highly experienced T20 campaigner and will come on-board the KKR bandwagon as a proven IPL performer over the past decade, which makes him an ideal candidate to replace Gambhir as the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team’s captain, while also acknowledging the fact that it will not be an easy job to find a successor for Gambhir, a two-time IPL winning captain with KKR.

It is common knowledge that wicket-keepers often have the best seat in the house on a cricketing field and can use their position to run the game effectively, as demonstrated by the great MS Dhoni over a number of years for India and in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings. Mysore also has similar views and stated that it is the wicket-keeper who has the best vantage point, a fact that is only likely to strengthen Karthik’s case as the next captain for KKR.

While confessing that they do have other names like Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Vinay Kumar in mind for the role, Mysore added that Karthik’s past record in the IPL and his long captaincy vigil in the Indian domestic circuit for Tamil Nadu are likely to keep him in good stead with the KKR think tank, including head coach Jacques Kallis, assistant coach Simon Katich and bowling coach Heath Streak.